Mayor, City of Santee
The Santee City Council has authorized a letter be sent from Mayor John Minto to all five members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors calling for the resignation of Fourth District Supervisor Nathan Fletcher as board chair and for Fletcher to publicly apologize.
Santee’s letter condemns divisive language from Fletcher and asks Fletcher to apologize for describing Californians participating in the Governor Newsom recall effort as “extremists,” “conspiracy theorists,” “neo-Nazis,” “right-wing militia groups” and “white supremacists.”
The letter, approved at the Feb. 10 council meeting, also calls for Fletcher to resign as 2021 board chairman.
The letter states: “Whether or not you agree with the recall effort, the right to recall elected officials is guaranteed in our California Constitution and is part of our democratic process. The Santee City Council stands against undermining voters involved in a legal recall by name-calling and villainizing. The Santee City Council continues to reject hate, in all its forms, and encourages voters to participate in the electoral process. Elected officials are leaders with an obligation to their constituents to respect the rule of law and not villianize those that legally exercise those rights.”
In recent comments made to California Democratic Party supporters, Fletcher said, according to a taped recording (https://twitter.com/carldemaio/status/1349410320335343617): “But these same extremists, these same Trump-inspired conspiracy theorists, are now seeking to undermine our democracy in California. They are involved in recall elections against our governor, Gavin Newsom. The recall effort led by pro-Trump extremists seek to undermine the Democratic process across our state. There is substantial evidence that those who are leading this recall effort are linked in associate with neo-Nazi, with white supremacists, with right-wing militia groups, and we cannot stand for this here either.”
Santee City Council’s letter, dated Feb. 11, also states: “Hate has no place in Santee. Hateful rhetoric has no room in political discourse and is particular bad when it comes from the chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
“For that reason, the Santee City Council is joining in the chorus and organizations condemning Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s statements against those involved in the recall of Governor Gavin Newsom and we call for Supervisor Fletcher to publicly apologize to the over 1 million signers of the petition and resign from his position of chairman of the Board of Supervisors.”
In addition to the County Supervisors, the letter also was sent to the Helen Robbins-Meyer, San Diego County Chief Administrative Officer, and Santee City Manager Marlene Best.
The letter was introduced at the Feb. 10 council meeting by Council member Rob McNelis.
Among others calling for Fletcher to resign include San Diego County Guns Owners Political Action Committee, Reform California Political Action Committee, University of California San Diego Young Republicans and Oceanside City Council member Chris Rodriguez.